Free Republic

SIERRA VISTA — Tanya Conde has never had her kindergarten class send care packages off with hopes of getting something back. The Bella Vista Elementary School teacher said she’s been military all her life, going from dependent, to active duty, to a spouse; so sending the care packages was just an important thing to do for her. During February’s National Patriotism Week, Conde decided to have her class put together care packages for the dads of two students in her class, both who are fighting in Iraq. Just recently the class received packages of its own from each soldier, including...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2008 – If laughter is the best medicine, deployed troops are getting huge doses when they open care packages full of red clown noses. “The mission of The Red Nose Institute is to share the art of clowning, spread joy and laughter to our military, and perhaps boost their morale by the distribution of red foam noses,” said Cheryl Herrington, the institute’s president and a professional clown known as “Sweet Pea.” Clowning is a sideline for Herrington, who works as a psychiatric nurse and knows the value of a simple smile. She grew up as an...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2007 – While most soldiers are tucked in their beds for the night, a mail handler with 461st Human Resource Battalion, out of Decatur, Ga., is waiting for the mail to arrive. Army Pfc. Cassie Durkin, from Whitewater, Wis., a human resource specialist for 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, sorts packages at Forward Operating Base Hammer, Iraq, Dec. 14, 2007. Photo by Spc. Ben Hutto, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We started getting a spike in mail at the end of October,” explained Army Spc. Tony Rogers,...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2007 – Care packages from one Georgia group are keeping troops in combat support hospitals cooking. “Our mission is to send support, smiles and care packages, as well as small appliances, … to our combat support hospitals,” said Meredith Kelly, chairman of “Operation Stars and Stripes.” The appliances go beyond mere coffee pots, though those have made their way from the Peach State to foreign shores as well. Operation Stars and Stripes has sent mini-refrigerators, microwave ovens and hot plates to give troops some flexibility when it comes to mealtime. In addition to the support it...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2007 – An Indiana group is employing what it considers its most powerful weapon in its quest to support the nation’s servicemembers: prayer. “We take an active role in praying for each of them, believing that prayer is the single most effective means we have of meeting needs that we do not know or understand firsthand,” said Gary Strader, a volunteer with the Military Support Group of Connection Pointe Christian Church. The group formed in spring 2003 when church members realized that several of the church’s families had sons or daughters in Afghanistan or en route...

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2007 – The nearly 500 servicemembers who pass through the United Service Organizations lounge at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas each day receive a warm greeting from “Defenders of Freedom.” More than 100 golfers participated in the "Tee It Up Fore the Troops" golf outing May 21 at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas, to benefit Defenders of Freedom and the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport’s USO. Among the participants were soldiers from Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and Marines from the Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth. Three Iraqi war...

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2007 – “Operation Care and Comfort” is on a mission to provide support and comfort to military units deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other regions of conflict. Since April 2003, the California-based Operation Care and Comfort organization has shipped more than 250,000 pounds of care packages to its more than 60 “adopted” units. More than 100 units are waiting to be adopted. “Working within our community and through donations received from all over the country, we assemble and ship care packages to our adopted units every month until they return home,” Julie DeMaria, the group’s co-founder,...

'Tis the season to share, and one local group that gives year-around, really goes all out this time of year. It calls itself TAMMS, Tucson Area Marine Moms. Cathy, who, like the other moms, prefers to use just her first name, picks up items off of a table. She explains, "I am packing up boxes to send out to the troops," to Tucson Marines deployed in Iraq. Cathy says, "Basically, I just go down the line and throw a little of this, a little of that. I've got to get some soap in there and some shampoo. I put some...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2006 -- Navy Morale, Welfare and Recreation has teamed up with 21 corporate sponsors to provide gift packages to forward-deployed sailors and Marines in Southwest Asia this holiday season. More than 8,000 packages have been assembled by MWR volunteers in Bahrain and will be hand-delivered to sailors and Marines by Christmas. “Thanks to the continued support of MWR’s corporate sponsors, sailors and Marines who are far from home will once again receive gift packages this holiday season,” Bill Winters, head of Navywide Commercial Sponsorship program, said. “The holiday gift package program continues to grow in its...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24, 2006 -- Operation Care and Comfort, a military care package program, has reached a milestone with its 200,000th pound of care packages shipped to the troops. Since April 2003, this all-volunteer program has worked with the community to send a touch of home to troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict regions. Dozens of volunteers of all ages joined in on Nov. 19 and helped pack about 10,000 pounds of care packages to send. This self-funded, grassroots program is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program designed to connect the American public...

Welcome to the 2006 thread of the Merry Band of Patriots! Our grassroots, volunteer group of troop supporters has been sending care packages to servicemen and women in war zones since the summer of 2001 when we began by sending VHS movies and Snickers candy bars to the 101st Airborne and then later the 10th Mountain at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. This last year we sent a couple hundred care packages to troops at Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul and Tal Afar in Iraq, at Bagram in Afghanistan, at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and to our wounded at Landstuhl Regional Hospital in...

11/6/2006 - BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- In August 2003, a Maryland family started the AnySoldier.com Web site as a way for people to support deployed Soldiers. Two years later, the family created separate sites to help those in the sister services. Their site for those in the Air Force, AnyAirman.com, lists Airmen who volunteered as points of contact at deployed locations. People who wish to support Airmen can send mail to the volunteers, who then distribute the letters and care packages to other Airmen. "It's a special thing for people back home to be able to connect with...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2006 -- While donations have been arriving at Operation Gratitude’s headquarters for some time, the group’s Holiday Drive 2006 officially kicks off on Veterans Day weekend, the group’s founder said. A recipient of one of Operation Gratitude's Holiday Drive 2005 packages expresses his appreciation for the care package. Operation Gratitude's Holiday Drive 2006 is currently under way. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Four weekends, eight days total, have been set aside to pack up and ship the boxes, Carolyn Blashek said. Those weekends include Nov. 11-12, 24-25 and Dec. 16-17 and 30-31. “Clearly...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2006 -- In just a few short months, the Phoenix-based Packages From Home organization has found a new home and a new sponsor, the group’s director of marketing and media relations said. Packages from Home, an Arizona-based troop support organization, recently moved into a new 3,100-square-foot facility. Phoenix Memorial Hospital is donating the space rent and utility free for a year with the possibility of a renewal at the end of the term. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Packages From Home began as a mother’s labor of love in March 2004, with sending...

Four-Legged Protectors Get Care Packages By Tom ClarksonGulf Region DivisionU.S. Army Corps of Engineers BAGHDAD, Aug. 25, 2006 -- When the temperature regularly exceeds 120 degrees, asphalt and concrete streets tend to be a tad toasty on the toes – even through tough combat boots. The norm for all who work outside in Iraq, this time of year, is to be hot, hot and very hot – no one could really blame another for panting from the heat. But imagine if the job also entailed treading on the baking paving, barefoot. “Though canine they be, these faithful few serve...

BERKELEY A judge has ruled that University of California regents can't decide how much to pay top executives behind closed doors, although they may hold discussions on the issue in private. The ruling this week by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith came in response to a suit by the San Francisco Chronicle. The newspaper sought to make the compensation committee of UC's Board of Regents discuss executive pay in public. Previously, committees have arrived at recommendations on executive pay in private and then the full board has voted on those recommendations in public. Smith ruled that regents' committees...

7/2/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Staff Sgt. Erick Trusty is tired and dirty. Another day has come and gone that he survived. At least on this day an improvised explosive device -- one of the enemy's deadliest weapons of choice in Iraq -- didn't hit his team. And the raid he and others carried out on a house full of weapons and munitions was a success. Then the sergeant thinks about how much he misses his new bride back in Texas. But that doesn't last long. Before him his four-legged partner signals that there are other things to worry...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Army News Service, May 17, 2006) – Morale, Welfare and Recreation patrons will be hard-pressed to beat the cost of an Australian vacation purchased through their Information, Ticket and Reservation office. A five-night stay in Sydney or Melbourne is available for $838 per person based on double occupancy. The “G’Day Good Deal” packages include three- or four-star accommodations for five nights, round-trip airfare from Los Angeles or San Francisco aboard Qantas Airways and a 15-hour calling card that can be used to dial the United States. Taxes and surcharges are not included in the base price. “Normally, when...

MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. (March 28, 2006) -- As the nation passes its third anniversary in the Global War on Terrorism, families and friends who remain behind continue to offer their support and love to the men and women fighting in the Middle East. One Beaufort father and daughter team are making the most of their resources and going the extra mile for their loved one. Maryann Waldrop's daughter and Robert Waldrop's granddaughter, Lt. Cmdr. Erin Felger, a general surgeon with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps in Camp Pendleton, Calif., was deployed to Iraq in February. The father-daughter duo does...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - University of California President Robert C. Dynes told a state Senate committee Wednesday that he made mistakes in overseeing the compensation awarded to top university administrators and pledged reform. The system is facing several investigations into its compensation practices, which included spending millions of tax dollars on bonuses, stipends and other cash benefits to employees without publicly disclosing the payments. Dynes promised senators that policies would be changed and accountability would be improved. "We need to correct these things and reinstall the trust in the University of California," Dynes said during an appearance before the Senate Education...